1011-20 NY Times Crossword 11 Oct 20, Sunday

Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: πr²

We have a rebus puzzle today, with several squares holding the letters “PIR”. They are PI-R-SQUARES:

  • 13A Lift weights : PUMP IRON
  • 23A “The government has discovered aliens but isn’t telling us,” e.g. : CONSPIRACY THEORY
  • 43A Nocturnal bloodsucker : VAMPIRE BAT
  • 68A Means of breathing : RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
  • 94A His resignation triggered the first invocation of the 25th Amendment : SPIRO AGNEW
  • 111A South American mammals with trunks : TAPIRS
  • 121A It was known by the Algonquin as the “Father of Waters” : MISSISSIPPI RIVER
  • 5D Locale of Kings County and Queens County, fittingly : EMPIRE STATE
  • 16D What “X” marks on a treasure map : PIRATE’S BOOTY
  • 37D Steeple feature : SPIRE
  • 71D Graceful spins : PIROUETTES
  • 76D Absolutely dazzling : AWE INSPIRING
  • 87D Vodka or gin : SPIRIT
  • 88D Low-dose pain reliever : BABY ASPIRIN

Bill’s time: 13m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Examples of attention to detail : DOTTED IS

And crossed Ts.

22 In the Caribbean it’s known as “the chicken of the trees” : IGUANA

An iguana is a lizard, and as such is cold-blooded. There are times when pet iguanas need heat from an IR lamp to maintain body temperature.

23 “The government has discovered aliens but isn’t telling us,” e.g. : CONSPIRACY THEORY

In 1952, the USAF revived its studies of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in a program called Project Blue Book. Project Blue Book ran from 1952 until it was shut down in 1969 with the conclusion that there was no threat to national security and that there were no sightings that could not be explained within the bounds of modern scientific knowledge.

25 Port on the Loire : NANTES

Nantes is a beautiful city located on the delta of the Loire, Erdre and Sèvre rivers. It has the well deserved nickname of “The Venice of the West”. I had the privilege of visiting Nantes a couple of times on business, and I can attest that it really is a charming city …

The Loire is the longest river in France. It is so long that it drains one-fifth of the nation’s land mass. The Loire rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then heads north then due west, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes. The Loire Valley is home to some of France’s most famous wine production, and includes the wine regions of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Muscadet.

26 Missouri site of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival : SEDALIA

Sedalia, Missouri is a city in the center of the state, located about 30 miles south of the Missouri River. Sedalia is home to the Missouri State Fair, and is also home to the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. Joplin lived in Sedalia from 1894 to 1907, and worked in the Maple Leaf Club, after which he named his famous composition “Maple Leaf Rag”. Back in 2011, Sedalia was in the news when it was hit by a devastating tornado.

Scott Joplin was a great American composer and pianist, the “King of Ragtime”. Joplin was born poor, into a laboring family in Texas. He learned his music from local teachers and started out his career as an itinerant musician, traveling around the American South. He found fame with the release of his 1899 composition “Maple Leaf Rag”, regarded as the foundation stone on which ragtime music was built. Joplin’s music, and ragtime in general, was rediscovered by the populace in the early seventies when it was used in the very successful movie “The Sting”.

29 Actress Ward : SELA

Actress Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. Ward played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, and was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show, but I do know Ward from the medical drama “House” in which she played the hospital’s lawyer and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought. More recently, Ward played a lead role on “CSI: NY” and was a very welcome and much-needed addition to the cast. And, Ward played Dr. Richard Kimble’s murdered wife in the 1993 film version of “The Fugitive”.

30 Acronym for a North American quintet : HOMES

A well-known mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes is HOMES, an acronym standing for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.

42 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez : TISH

Gomez and Morticia (“Tish”) Addams were the parents in “The Addams Family”, a creation of cartoonist Charles Addams. In the sixties television show, Gomez was played by John Astin and Morticia was played by Carolyn Jones.

43 Nocturnal bloodsucker : VAMPIRE BAT

Vampire bats feed mostly in the blood of mammals, including humans. When they find a suitable “victim”, often one that is asleep, the bat usually lands close by and approaches its “meal” on the ground. It makes a small cut with its razor-sharp teeth and laps up the blood. The blood tends to flow freely as the bat’s saliva contains anticoagulants. Reports of bats biting the neck of humans are very rare in the real world, but the neck is the preferred location of attack in the fantasy world of vampires.

49 It requires no oxygen for growth : ANAEROBE

An aerobe is an organism that lives in an environment rich in oxygen. An anaerobe, on the other hand, does not require oxygen for survival.

50 Pants with baggy legs : CULOTTES

In women’s fashion, the word “culottes” is used for a garment that hangs like a skirt but is actually pants. The term was imported from French, in which language culottes were originally split skirts used for horse riding.

54 Noodles often eaten cold in the summer : SOBA

Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. In Japan, the word “soba” tends to describe any thin noodle, in contrast with the thicker noodle called “udon”.

56 Cause of joint pain : GOUT

Gout is caused by an elevation of the levels of uric acid in the blood. As a result of the high concentrations, the uric acid can crystallize out in tissue causing extreme discomfort. What we tend to call gout occurs when the crystals are deposited in the big toe. Gout is sometimes referred to as “the disease of kings” or “the rich man’s disease”, as it is associated with a traditionally opulent diet.

61 Small songbird : TIT

The birds known as chickadees or titmice in North America, are usually called simply “tits” in the rest of the English-speaking world.

62 Cornmeal bread : PONE

“Pone” is another name for corn bread, and comes from the Powhatan term “apan” meaning “something baked”.

66 Brian who co-founded Roxy Music : ENO

Brian Eno is a musician, composer and record producer from England who first achieved fame as the synthesizer player with Roxy Music. As a producer, Eno has worked with David Bowie, Devo, Talking Heads and U2.

74 Calming retreat : SPA

The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as “Spa” is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.

77 Subject of 199 silkscreen paintings by Warhol : MAO

Andy Warhol made a famous series of portraits of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1973. An exhibition of Warhol’s works toured China in 2012 but the images of Mao were excluded, apparently at the request of the Chinese government.

78 Present from birth : INNATE

Something innate is untaught, has existed from birth. The term comes from the Latin “innatus” meaning “inborn”.

79 Activist ___ Alamuddin Clooney : AMAL

Amal Alamuddin married celebrated Hollywood actor George Clooney in 2014. Alamuddin was born in Beirut, Lebanon and moved with her family to London when she was a toddler. She is a lawyer specializing in international law, with one of her more renowned clients being the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

91 The continents, e.g. : SEPTET

The seven continents, in order of size, are:

  1. Asia
  2. Africa
  3. North America
  4. South America
  5. Antarctica
  6. Europe
  7. Australia

94 His resignation triggered the first invocation of the 25th Amendment : SPIRO AGNEW

Spiro Agnew served as Vice-President under Richard Nixon, before becoming the only VP in American history to resign because of criminal charges (there was a bribery scandal). Agnew was also the first Greek-American to serve as US Vice President as he was the son of a Greek immigrant who had shortened the family name from Anagnostopoulos.

The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the US Constitution defines procedures adopted in the event of a vacancy in the office of the US President or Vice President. Adopted in 1967, the amendment also addresses situations in which the president becomes incapacitated.

102 Triangular flags : PENNANTS

By definition, a pennant (also “pennon”) is a flag that tapers, is larger at the hoist (near the flagpole) than the fly (the “tail”). Pennants tend to be triangular, tapered or triangular swallow-tailed.

107 Computer image format : BITMAP

A bitmap is an image file format used to store digital images. Basically, each pixel in a bitmap file is stored as a “bit” of information, hence the name “bitmap”. In 1987, CompuServe introduced a new type of image file called the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). A GIF image takes the same information as a bitmap and then compresses it, resulting in a smaller file size. However, during compression the image may lose some resolution. The GIF format also handles short video clips, usually animations.

111 South American mammals with trunks : TAPIRS

All four species of tapir are endangered. Even though the tapir looks much like a pig, it is more closely related to the horse and the rhinoceros.

118 Lime and rust : OXIDES

The name of the element calcium comes from the Latin “calcis” meaning “lime”. “Quicklime” and “burnt lime” are common names for calcium oxide.

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

121 It was known by the Algonquin as the “Father of Waters” : MISSISSIPPI RIVER

The Mississippi River runs right through the Midwest. It originates in Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows into the Gulf of Mexico about a hundred miles below New Orleans. The name Mississippi is a corruption of a Native American name “misi-ziibi”, meaning “Great River, Father of Waters”.

128 Castle in “Hamlet” : ELSINORE

Elsinore is the castle that William Shakespeare used as the setting for his play “Hamlet”. Elsinore is based on the actual Kronborg castle in the Danish city of Helsingør (anglicized as “Elsinore”).

130 “May God bless and keep the ___ … far away from us!” (line from “Fiddler on the Roof”) : TSAR

The enduring musical “Fiddler on the Roof” is based on a collection of stories by Sholem Aleichem about Tevye, a milkman living in Tsarist Russia. The musical version of the tales first opened on Broadway in 1964. “Fiddler on the Roof” had such a long run that it became the first musical to reach 3,000 performances.

Down

1 Grumpy co-worker : DOC

In the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale called “Snow White”, the seven dwarfs were not given any names. The names were added for the 1937 classic Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The seven dwarfs are:

  • Doc (the leader of the group)
  • Grumpy (that would be me, according to my wife …)
  • Happy
  • Sleepy
  • Bashful
  • Sneezy
  • Dopey

3 Old country music channel : TNN

The Nashville Network (TNN) was a country music cable channel that operated from 1983 to 2003. When TNN closed down it was relaunched with a completely different format as Spike, which was marketed as “the first television channel for men”.

5 Locale of Kings County and Queens County, fittingly : EMPIRE STATE

The Erie Canal runs from Albany to Buffalo in the state of New York. What the canal does is allow shipping to proceed from New York Harbor right up the Hudson River, through the canal and into the Great Lakes. When it was opened in 1825, the Erie Canal had an immediate impact on the economy of New York City and locations along its route. It was the first means of “cheap” transportation from a port on the Atlantic seaboard into the interior of the United States. Arguably it was the most important factor contributing to the growth of New York City over competing ports such as Baltimore and Philadelphia. It was largely because of the Erie Canal that New York became such an economic powerhouse, earning it the nickname of “the Empire State”. Paradoxically, one of the project’s main proponents was severely criticized. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton received so much ridicule that the canal was nicknamed “Clinton’s Folly” and “Clinton’s Ditch”.

The New York City borough of Brooklyn has the same boundaries as Kings County, which is the most populous county in the state of New York.

Queens is the largest borough in New York City, and is today coterminous with Queens County. Queens is an amazingly diverse location in terms of ethnicity. There is a population of over 2 million people, with almost 50% of that population being foreign-born. Apparently there are over 130 native languages spoken in the area. Queens was named for Catherine of Braganza (from Portugal), Queen consort of King Charles II of England.

7 Sapa ___ (title for Atahualpa) : INCA

Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro discovered the Incas in 1526, marking the beginning of the end for an ancient civilization that was to be ravaged by brutal Spanish colonists and by imported smallpox. The last leader of the Inca was Atahualpa. Pizarro staged a mock trial and then condemned Atahualpa to execution by burning. A Spanish friar intervened on behalf of the condemned man, as Atahualpa believed that if he was burned his soul would not move on to the afterlife. Pizarro, was kind enough to have Atahualpa garroted instead.

9 Gospel singer Jackson : MAHALIA

Mahalia Jackson was an African-American gospel singer who was known as the first Queen of Gospel Music. She recorded many records, including 12 that went gold, i.e. sold more than a million copies each.

10 Fútbol cheer : OLE!

“Fútbol” is the Spanish word for “football, soccer”.

13 Spare part? : PIN

In bowling, the downing of all ten pins in two balls in the same frame is called a spare, and scores ten points. The player gets a bonus, equal to the number of pins downed with the next ball, which could be up to ten. Hence, a spare can be worth up to 20 points

14 Sch. for Bulldogs : UGA

The sports teams of the University of Georgia are called the Bulldogs. The team mascot is known as Hairy Dawg. “Forbes” magazine lists Hairy Dawg as the third-best sports mascot. Impressive …

15 ’60s sitcom family : MUNSTERS

“The Munsters” is a sitcom about a family of harmless monsters that ran at the same time as “The Addams Family”, a show with a similar storyline. “The Munsters” was produced by the same team that created “Leave It to Beaver”.

16 What “X” marks on a treasure map : PIRATE’S BOOTY

“Booty”, meaning “plunder, profit”, is derived from the Old French word “butin” that has the same meaning.

17 First-year law student : ONE L

“One L” is a name used in general for first-year law students, especially those attending Harvard.

18 Mission-driven org. : NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

21 “Science Guy” Bill : NYE

That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Bill’s show ran on PBS for four years, from 1993-97.

32 “___ Brando: Larger Than Life” (1994 biography) : MARLON

Actor Marlon Brando really hit the big time with his Oscar-winning performance in the 1951 movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Brando went on to win another Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 1972’s “The Godfather”, which gave him the platform to establish himself as a political activist. He turned down the award and didn’t attend the ceremony. Instead he sent a Native American rights activist called Sacheen Littlefeather who made a speech protesting the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood movies. Brando wasn’t the first person to refuse an Oscar. George C. Scott did the same thing when he won for playing the title role in 1970’s “Patton”. Scott just didn’t like the whole idea of “competing” with other actors.

34 Dog in classic films : ASTA

Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb “The Thin Man” series of films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing Up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

41 Universal donor’s blood type, for short : O-NEG

The most important grouping of blood types is the ABO system. Blood is classified as either A, B, AB or O, depending on the type of antigens on the surface of the red blood cells. A secondary designation of blood is the Rh factor, in which other antigens are labelled as either positive or negative. When a patient receives a blood transfusion, ideally the donor blood should be the same type as that of the recipient, as incompatible blood cells can be rejected. However, blood type O-neg can be accepted by recipients with all blood types, A, B, AB or O, and positive or negative. Hence someone with O-neg blood type is called a universal donor.

44 Activist Hoffman : ABBIE

Abbie Hoffman was the founder of the “Yippies”, an activist group that had violent clashes with the police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Hoffman, along with six other defendants, were eventually brought up on charges related to the protests and became known collectively as the “Chicago Seven”.

51 Only player with three 60+ home run seasons : SOSA

Sammy Sosa was firmly in the public eye in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire were vying to be the first to surpass the home run record held by Roger Maris. McGwire fell out of public favor due to stories of steroid abuse (stories which he later admitted were true) while Sosa fell out of favor when he was found to be using a corked bat in a 2003 game.

53 Rest of the afternoon? : SIESTA

We use the word “siesta” to describe a short nap in the early afternoon, and imported the word into English from Spanish. In turn, the Spanish word is derived from the Latin “hora sexta” meaning “the sixth hour”. The idea is that the nap is taken at the sixth hour after dawn.

58 2010 sci-fi film subtitled “Legacy” : TRON

Released in 1982, Disney’s “Tron” was one of the first mainstream films to make extensive use of computer graphics. The main role in the movie is played by Jeff Bridges. The original spawned a 2010 sequel called “Tron: Legacy”, as well as a 2012 TV show called “Tron: Uprising”.

69 Only bird with calf muscles : EMU

Even though emu meat is classified as a red meat because of its color, it has a fat content that is comparable to other poultry.

71 Graceful spins : PIROUETTES

We took our word “pirouette” directly from French, in which language it has the same meaning, i.e. a rotation in dancing. “Pirouette” is also the French word for “spinning top”.

75 When doubled, 1934 Cole Porter comedy short : PAREE

Cole Porter was a little unusual amongst his peers in that he was one of the few successful songwriters who wrote both lyrics and music for his compositions. Porter was seriously injured in a riding accident when in his forties and was left disabled and in pain. Despite this, he continued to work and produced his most successful work after the accident.

82 More N.S.F.W., maybe : LEWDER

The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.

88 Low-dose pain reliever : BABY ASPIRIN

“Aspirin” used to be a brand name for the drug acetylsalicylic acid. Aspirin was introduced by the German drug company Bayer AG in the late 1800s. As part of the war reparations paid by Germany after WWI, Bayer AG lost the use of the trademark “Aspirin” (as well as the trademark Heroin!) and it became a generic term.

90 Mass recitation : AGNUS DEI

“Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God”, The expression is used in Christian traditions to describe Jesus Christ, hence symbolizing his role as a sacrificial offering (sacrificial lamb) to atone for the sins of man.

92 Symbol meaning “still typing” : ELLIPSIS

An ellipsis is a series of dots (usually three) used to indicate an omission in some text. The term comes from the Greek word “élleipsis”, which means “omission”.

95 Dedicatee of the 1980 song “Woman” : ONO

“Woman” is a lovely song written by John Lennon that he recorded in 1980. The song was released in 1981, just a month or so after Lennon was murdered outside his New York apartment building. Lennon wrote the song as an ode to his wife Yoko Ono, and to women in general. He also stated that “Woman” was a grown-up version of “Girl”, a song that he wrote for the Beatles in 1965.

100 Milky gems : OPALS

An opal is often described as having a milky iridescence known as opalescence.

111 Went like the dickens : TORE

The phrase “like the dickens” is used to mean “a lot” (it hurts like the dickens) or “quickly” (ran like the dickens). The phrase has nothing to do with the author Charles Dickens, and rather “dickens” is a euphemism for the “devil”.

114 German granny : OMA

The German for “grandpa” is “Opa”, and for “grandma” is “Oma”.

116 Where the infant Moses was found : NILE

According to the Bible, the Pharaoh issued an edict that all male Hebrew children be drowned in the river Nile soon after birth. Moses’ mother saved her child by placing him in a basket and hiding him among the bulrushes at the edge of the Nile. The baby was found and adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter.

117 Cathedral recess : APSE

The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

119 Maa, in 1995’s “Babe” : EWE

The hit 1995 film “Babe” was produced and filmed in Australia. The movie is an adaptation of a 1983 novel called “The Sheep-Pig” written by Dick King-Smith. “Babe” was a smash hit at the box office and was extremely well received by the critics. The film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but lost out to “Braveheart”. However, it did win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects by beating out “Apollo 13”, which was an amazing feat, I’d say…

120 Ukr., e.g., once : SSR

Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe that was a Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) before the dissolution of the USSR. In English, we often call the country “the Ukraine”, but I am told that we should say just “Ukraine”.

122 Genre pioneered in 1950s-’60s Jamaica : SKA

Ska originated in Jamaica in the late fifties and was the precursor to reggae music. No one has a really definitive etymology of the term “ska”, but it is likely to be imitative of a sound.

123 U.S. overseas broadcaster : VOA

The US began shortwave propaganda broadcasts in early 1942, just after America entered WWII. The first broadcast to Germany was introduced by the “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and opened with the words:

Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war. The news may be good or bad for us — We will always tell you the truth.

That first broadcast was called “Stimmen aus Amerika” (“Voices from America”), and gave the fledgling broadcasting operation its name. VOA is still going strong today, and was a station that I used to listen to as a teenager back in Ireland in the early seventies …

124 Unit of work : ERG

An erg is a unit of mechanical work or energy. It is a small unit, with one joule comprising 10 million ergs. It has been suggested that an erg is about the amount of energy required for a mosquito to take off. The term comes from “ergon”, the Greek word for work.

125 Food writer/TV personality ___ Drummond : REE

Ree Drummond is a food writer and blogger. Drummond’s blog “The Pioneer Woman” recounts her daily life on her family’s working ranch outside of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Examples of attention to detail : DOTTED IS
9 Yearbook award word : MOST
13 Lift weights : PUMP IRON
19 Gingerbread man, often : ORNAMENT
20 British pop singer Lily : ALLEN
22 In the Caribbean it’s known as “the chicken of the trees” : IGUANA
23 “The government has discovered aliens but isn’t telling us,” e.g. : CONSPIRACY THEORY
25 Port on the Loire : NANTES
26 Missouri site of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival : SEDALIA
27 Applications : USES
29 Actress Ward : SELA
30 Acronym for a North American quintet : HOMES
33 Intertwine : ENLACE
35 Pains in the neck : PESTS
38 Spanish article : UNA
39 Power of a square : TWO
42 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez : TISH
43 Nocturnal bloodsucker : VAMPIRE BAT
46 Steal : BARGAIN
48 Stuff : SATE
49 It requires no oxygen for growth : ANAEROBE
50 Pants with baggy legs : CULOTTES
52 Task : ASSIGN
54 Noodles often eaten cold in the summer : SOBA
55 Square things : ATONE
56 Cause of joint pain : GOUT
59 Relatively new relative, maybe : IN-LAW
61 Small songbird : TIT
62 Cornmeal bread : PONE
63 Wood for violin-making : SPRUCE
66 Brian who co-founded Roxy Music : ENO
67 “You rang?” : YES?
68 Means of breathing : RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
74 Calming retreat : SPA
77 Subject of 199 silkscreen paintings by Warhol : MAO
78 Present from birth : INNATE
79 Activist ___ Alamuddin Clooney : AMAL
83 Hesitating sound : HAW
84 Unremarkable : USUAL
86 Goes out for a bit? : NAPS
88 Valorous : BRAVE
89 Specialty : AREA
91 The continents, e.g. : SEPTET
94 His resignation triggered the first invocation of the 25th Amendment : SPIRO AGNEW
96 Start up again : REIGNITE
98 Wacky : LOCO
101 Like some flights : INBOUND
102 Triangular flags : PENNANTS
103 Aerial maneuver : LOOP
104 Kiddy litter? : TOY
105 Mature : AGE
106 Power issue : SURGE
107 Computer image format : BITMAP
109 More up to it : ABLER
111 South American mammals with trunks : TAPIRS
113 Introductory course? : SOUP
115 Brand of allergy spray : FLONASE
118 Lime and rust : OXIDES
121 It was known by the Algonquin as the “Father of Waters” : MISSISSIPPI RIVER
126 Extends : RENEWS
127 Similar : ALIKE
128 Castle in “Hamlet” : ELSINORE
129 More out there : EDGIER
130 “May God bless and keep the ___ … far away from us!” (line from “Fiddler on the Roof”) : TSAR
131 Return to the fray : RE-ENGAGE

Down

1 Grumpy co-worker : DOC
2 Spanish gold : ORO
3 Old country music channel : TNN
4 French for “cup” : TASSE
5 Locale of Kings County and Queens County, fittingly : EMPIRE STATE
6 Like some batteries and parties : DEAD
7 Sapa ___ (title for Atahualpa) : INCA
8 Not merely cut : STYLE
9 Gospel singer Jackson : MAHALIA
10 Fútbol cheer : OLE!
11 Doesn’t sit right? : SLOUCHES
12 Snippy, in a way : TERSE
13 Spare part? : PIN
14 Sch. for Bulldogs : UGA
15 ’60s sitcom family : MUNSTERS
16 What “X” marks on a treasure map : PIRATE’S BOOTY
17 First-year law student : ONE L
18 Mission-driven org. : NASA
21 “Science Guy” Bill : NYE
24 Shades : TINTS
28 Glittery glue-ons : SPANGLES
30 Wheel cover : HUBCAP
31 Acting mindlessly : ON AUTO
32 “___ Brando: Larger Than Life” (1994 biography) : MARLON
34 Dog in classic films : ASTA
36 Flowing forth : EMANANT
37 Steeple feature : SPIRE
40 Cleverness : WIT
41 Universal donor’s blood type, for short : O-NEG
43 Peacockish : VAIN
44 Activist Hoffman : ABBIE
45 Milk dispensers : TEATS
47 Lost cause : GONER
51 Only player with three 60+ home run seasons : SOSA
53 Rest of the afternoon? : SIESTA
57 Slant skyward : UPTILT
58 2010 sci-fi film subtitled “Legacy” : TRON
60 Trouble : WOE
64 Catering container : URN
65 Color for the right eye of a pair of 3-D glasses : CYAN
69 Only bird with calf muscles : EMU
70 Talking back : SASSING
71 Graceful spins : PIROUETTES
72 Informal assents : YEPS
73 Country singer Price : MARGO
74 # : SHARP
75 When doubled, 1934 Cole Porter comedy short : PAREE
76 Absolutely dazzling : AWE INSPIRING
80 Book that’s rarely read cover-to-cover : MANUAL
81 Right, as a wrong : AVENGE
82 More N.S.F.W., maybe : LEWDER
85 Mimics : APES
87 Vodka or gin : SPIRIT
88 Low-dose pain reliever : BABY ASPIRIN
90 Mass recitation : AGNUS DEI
92 Symbol meaning “still typing” : ELLIPSIS
93 Tugboat sound : TOOT
95 Dedicatee of the 1980 song “Woman” : ONO
97 Opposite of wide: Abbr. : NAR
99 Like slippers versus dress shoes : COMFIER
100 Milky gems : OPALS
107 Muscly : BUILT
108 Stumper question : POSER
110 Life form : BEING
111 Went like the dickens : TORE
112 Got rid of : AXED
114 German granny : OMA
116 Where the infant Moses was found : NILE
117 Cathedral recess : APSE
119 Maa, in 1995’s “Babe” : EWE
120 Ukr., e.g., once : SSR
122 Genre pioneered in 1950s-’60s Jamaica : SKA
123 U.S. overseas broadcaster : VOA
124 Unit of work : ERG
125 Food writer/TV personality ___ Drummond : REE

14 thoughts on “1011-20 NY Times Crossword 11 Oct 20, Sunday”

  1. 32:50 with two Errors – LEAD vs DEAD batteries. And with the L, 1A made no sense to me. Realized it was a Rebus when I couldn’t figure out the exact placement for MISSISSIPPI in 121A and then got VAMPIREBAT and that nailed down the rebus.

    Started with STLOUIS for 26A, but MAHALIA in 9D proved that in error. SPARKLES before SPANGLES

  2. 27:00, no errors. The theme reminded me of an old joke, but I only remember part of the punch line: something like “no, pie are round, cake are square”. Surely, someone here can come up with the whole thing? … 😜

    1. Same thought popped up in my head. I think the punch line is simply a response to the statement “Pi R square”.

  3. 45:01 if only I thought to read the title of the Sunday puzzle BEFORE I started to solve….. 🙂

  4. 26:08 Once I figured out the trick, not too many problems. Biggest troubles were Mahalia, Slouches, and Tish. I thought that was supposed to be something about their relationship to each other not her name.

  5. 26:08. One the the easiest Sunday’s for me in a while. I had the theme almost figured out as soon as I read the title (remember that, Duncan). Then CONSPIRACY THEORY confirmed it right away. I leaned on the theme a lot after that.

    EMUs have calf muscles. I’m sure there’s a joke or a wisea** comment in there somewhere, but I can’t quite think of it.

    Best –

  6. To get the theme and finish in what for me is reasonable time (1:06:45) and wind up spelling a foreign noodle sobe instead of soba is kinda discouraging . That’s life 😩
    Stay safe😀.
    Go Ravens

  7. 29:57, no errors. Is today’s setter ‘Gary Larson’ the same as the Far Side cartoonist? or a different one?

    1. Bruce – Pretty sure I’ve seen that he’s a different person entirely. Just a coincidental name.

  8. Didn’t see the rebus until the MississipPIRiver/babyasPRIn cross then an easy solve.
    My favorite Gary Larson cartoon is the rubber chicken ranch.
    They they are not the same guy Gary the cartoonist died in 2007.

  9. @Bill in MN, I wasn’t aware of Gary Larson (the cartoonist) had died. Wikipedia has him born in 1950 with no death date. Gary Larson is presumably still alive!

    Slow, but finished with only 1 lookup…yay me!

  10. Quick solve.. Screwed up on 125D RAE instead of REE.. Theme helped solve much more quickly.. Reference to 44D, Chicago 7. Looks like a movie was made about it.. Haven’t watched it yet.

  11. Does anyone know what happened to Dime Piece LA celebrity streetwear brand? I cannot check out on Dimepiecela site. I have read in Marie Claire that the brand was bought out by a UK-based hedge fund in excess of $50 m. I have just bought the Dimepiece Level Up Unisex Heavy Blend™ Hooded Sweatshirt from Ebay and absolutely love it xox

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